Is it time to leave my job? That is one very innocent but very big question for a lot of people, particularly recently. Sometimes people start questioning if they are in the right position in their niche, or they want a change in the industry, or sometimes they want to start a whole new career from scratch. I for one love this conversation and am fascinated by what drives people to ask themselves that in the first place.
In yesteryear you would hear of people changing companies to do the same work with a bigger paycheck or potentially they left their current job for a promotion or better career pathing. There is no doubt that to some extent that is still happening, however of the three improved career pathing or clear career progression strategy wins out on the frequency of the three. More often in recent years it has nothing to do with money and little to do with title or status. If you’ve been with me for a minute now you know those are the baselines of how a company shows value, and while not everyone would create The Value Hierarchy (you can read more about it here) we do in some ways intrinsically know that it works bottom up from compensation, to status, to development, to autonomy, finally building to influence, and that is just internal to the company. It is as if employees are getting to the point that all of that is now the baseline standard of what a company would offer them. We now also need to provide quality leadership at all levels of the organization, a company culture that aligns with their own values and beliefs, and work life balance. It is as if the workforce finally realized what my mom has said since I was a tot, you spend way too much time at work to not love it. Now, I think Mom meant love the work itself, but her words ring true and translate well when you think development, leadership and management, and organizational culture. The bottom line is you have to know what you love, and don’t, about what you’re doing and where you’re at and just make a judgement call.
I have many friends who have asked themselves, or me, is it time to find a new job, over the past few months but two really stand out to me because on paper they look the same and the result of the question was so different. We’ll call these strong working moms Culture Carrie and Family Fay. Both women work in the same industry, as I said they are working moms, both with a school aged boy and girl at home, and both with successful, involved, and supportive husbands. Both Carrie and Fay are great at what they do earning accolades from their employers and the respect of their peers. Over time each of the women start to feel friction in their careers. Carrie described it to me as a frustration with leadership. She had always thrown herself heart and soul into her work pouring hours into it on the nights and weekends and recently had started getting micromanaged by her boss. Carrie questioned her passion for the work and leaned harder into her other hobbies and passions feeling resentful toward her job. Fay felt similar frustrations of being micromanaged and not having the autonomy she wanted. In her case she realized it was because of the overall structure; she was set up to work this way her entire career if she stayed. Fay was still passionate about the work she was doing but couldn’t see a way past what was happening in her organization. She realized how much this set up, this career, was taking her away from her kids and her husband. Fay wanted to show up for them better, but the demands of the work were pulling her in the opposite direction.
Reading that do you have an idea of what each woman did? What would you do if you were them?
I had the chance to talk to Carrie while she was working through this. When it came right down to it, what she thought was a loss of passion on her part was really that the culture had been so badly poisoned at her place of employment that she was being made to feel it was her. She wasn’t sure of that in the beginning, so she decided to try the same job at another organization, and she flourished. The leadership improved which greatly impacted the overall culture allowing her to find her groove again and start producing the amazing results she had earlier in her career. I got the chance to work with Fay a little bit too and she took a much different approach. She is still in the same organization, doing the same job, but with a strategy to get her where she wants to be in the end. Fay recognized what her passion is in her work and decided to start her own business doing just that. She will build the business on the side to support the kind of life she wants with her kids and husband. Fay also committed to being part of the solution. She applied to be part of the steering committee for her organization allowing her to impact the structure for future people that they might not go through what she did.
These two incredible women were able to objectively distill down what their priorities were in life at this stage and make critical decisions about how to improve their situation. While they both were (I’d venture to say still are) nervous for what the future might hold, they made the right decision for them, right now. If you’re in a similar position as these women, asking yourself, is it time to leave my job, I’d encourage you to think about it the same way.
- What are my top priorities?
- Does this job, organization, and career support them?
- If not, what piece of that question needs to change?
- Am I willing to step out of my comfort zone and make that change?
Keep in mind, it doesn’t always mean leave, and it doesn’t always mean stay. Most importantly it isn’t a permanent decision. What is right for you right now may not be right in the next 5 years and that is ok. You get to grow and make a new decision from what you wanted 10 years ago and you have no idea what your priorities will be 10 years from now. Both Carrie and Fay had a calling to enter the field and the jobs they were in and now their paths are leading them in different directions. Where will yours lead you?